Captain America #19
I really haven't had a bad thing to say about this book since I started picking it up. Both the artists they use are good, although Epting is better (and is doing this story arc, apparently). I'm happy to see Union Jack and Spitfire, as I still miss the New Invaders book (despite the art there, which I expected to grow on me but it never did). The continuation of the Winter Soldier's story, parceled out in occasional pages and panels, is nicely done. I enjoyed seeing Sharon Carter (whose character is starting to grow on me) take charge of the mission, and I enjoyed her repartee with Union Jack. Overall, not as exciting as some of the past issues but a good strong read.
Fantastic Four: First Family #4
I've liked this mini-series enough, although I don't think it's as well done as the similarly-themed Avengers: World's Mightiest Heroes series was. I'm especially liking the treatment of some of the conflicts we see in the Silver Age FF books--when it was played for laughs. Reed was kind of a dick throughout much of the FF's first 100 issues or so, and there's some of that here as well, although not misogyny (that sixties-era chauvinism!) so much as a subtle condescension applied to anyone with less of an intellect. The "Father Knows Best" dynamic that you see so much in the old books doesn't work here. I'm less fond of the external conflict they've introduced--Franz. But so much of the FF origin story was tied into the Cold War that I suppose there had to be something to explain just why the FF felt the need to go into space ten years ago (or however long ago it's supposed to have been now).
Iron Man #8
You know, the sheer novelty of having this book arrive an a regular basis inclines me to think favorably of it :). The gradual falling apart of Tony Stark as Extremis affects him in ways he couldn't have anticipated--I don't think he was ever the most pleasant person to be around but he really doesn't seem to be handling the changes well. So...hopefully that's the origin of his current problems as well, he'll find some way to strip it out of his system, and we'll have back the old Iron Man we know and, well, prefer. :)
Ms. Marvel #4
I am really pleased to see Carol in her own book again. (Again? It's been, what, 25 years or so?) I'm glad they went with that costume, gives that retro feel that feeds my nostalgia (and I'm glad they didn't go with the first costume because that one went with that so-awful feathered hair-do--nostalgia can only do so much, you know). I'm enjoying the superhero PR subplot; Carol doesn't seem comfortable with the "friendly" invasion (they have copies of her keys? all the data on her phone?) and I'm guessing that it's not standard procedure (supposedly Dr. Strange and a number of other heroes use the same service and I can't imagine any of them putting up with it), only it's new to Carol and she probably isn't setting her boundaries as she should, out of her newfound desire to pump up her rep. Decent read, I'd give it a B if I was going to rate my comics, but since I'm not going to rate, I won't.
New Avengers #20
This is, really, usually a pretty average book. I read it because I like the Avengers, I like the characters, and some of them are done very well here. There's always some fun dialogue in there
Sentry: "Everyone hear that voice in the air?
Spider-Woman: "Oh yeah."
Sentry: "You heard the Xorn?"
Spider-Woman: "We all heard it."
Sentry: "OK, just checking."
and some cute bits, like Daisy Johnson thinking they wanted her to join the Avengers when all they wanted was some help on this one mission (cringe). Overall not the strongest book out there, but not (I don't think) deserving of the hate it seems to have inspired among some fans. Then again I keep finding myself thinking of this book as temporary, and I guess we won't know whether I'm right for a few years yet.
Son of M #6
This is the last in the mini-series, and it held up. Pietro is seemingly irredeemable at this point. (As is Wanda. Wonder what they'll eventually do to put both of them back into play.) The Inhumans have been portrayed consistently throughout the series--one tends to forget, reading the old books, that all of the Inhumans that we regularly see are members of the royal family. They don't usually act like it. Here they do.
And I'll be glad when the last of House of M is over.
The Thing #4
Is this the last book of this series? I know it was cancelled but I'm not sure when that takes effect. Anyway, I'll keep getting it, but I have to admit that I didn't care as much for this issue as I have some of the others, and I'm not quite sure why. It's not that they shot down the idea of Ben and Alicia getting back together--I find it really refreshing that the "other man" is (at least so far, and apparently) a genuinely nice guy. (It would be difficult to make him otherwise, since one of Alicia's strengths has always been that she is somewhat intuitive. Apart from her stepfather, that is. Oh, and her tendency to look for the good in everyone. In fact, never mind.) Alicia has never been one of my favorite characters--I've never disliked her, just never found her all that interesting (in the old days she was portrayed as rather saintly), but here she shows a bit more personality. I hope her boyfriend is a genuinely nice guy--I am guessing, though, that at some point this will change, some writer will want Ben and Alicia back together (not that there's anything wrong with that!) and do so by either killing this guy off or turning him into a jerk. I give it three years, tops.
Ultimates 2 #11
Starting to lag a bit but still enjoyable if not as compelling as most of the run has been. I'm noticing that the Hulk is grey here. I never followed the Hulk's own book, but wasn't he grey at some point when he retained Banner's intelligence? Not that you can have any real expectations based on what you recall from the main Marvel universe. That, I'm interested in seeing next issue. What happens to Thor? Less so. And at some point I imagine we'll get to see Hank Pym get his. If this was the main Marvel universe I'd expect him to do something to redeem himself, but this isn't the main Marvel universe. That's one thing I have liked a lot about this series--for the most part, you really haven't been able to predict what's going to happen. (Not that that's always a problem--since the nostalgia factor plays a fairly large part in my enjoyment of comics this is something I often find forgivable.)
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